Civic body approves proposal to change the name of Ghaziabad city

The proposal for changing the name of Ghaziabad city was approved by the corporation board and the proposal will now be sent to the state government for final approval and also for selecting a name

The Ghaziabad municipal corporation has approved a proposal to rename Ghaziabad city in its board meeting held on Tuesday, senior municipal officials said, adding that the “new name is yet to be finalised”.

The proposal was put forward by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) councillor Sanjay Singh, who also proposed names such as ’Harnandi Nagar’ and ’Gajnagar’, but the municipal corporation has decided to let the state government pick the new name, said civic officials. (Sakib Ali/HT Photo)

The corporation officials said the proposal was put forward by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) councillor Sanjay Singh, who also proposed several names such as “Harnandi Nagar” and ”Gajnagar”, among others, but the board chose to send the proposal to the state government for picking a new name and giving a final approval.

The BJP is in majority in the municipal corporation and councillors chanted slogans of ”jai shri Ram” and ”Bharat mata ki jai” as the proposal was approved.

“The proposal for changing the name of Ghaziabad was approved by the board and the proposal will now be sent to the state government for final approval and also for selecting a name. Several names were discussed but no name was finalised by the board. The state government will take a final call on the proposal now,” said Vikramaditya Malik, municipal commissioner.

When asked whether the corporation, an urban local body, is authorised to propose the name change of an entire district having eight other local bodies, Malik said, “The proposal was for changing name of Ghaziabad city under the corporation jurisdiction area. The other local bodies may also take up such a proposal if required.”

The corporation jurisdiction area is limited to 100 residential wards while the district also has four nagar palikas (municipal councils) and four nagar panchayats.

Councillor Sanjay Singh from ward 100 of Shipra Sun City, Indirapuram, who put forward the proposal, said, “This proposal is historic and it was passed with a resounding majority. I proposed two names while another name, “Dudheshwar Nagar” (after ancient Dudheshwar Nath temple), was also proposed. The proposal was to restore our ancient culture and heritage and to get rid of the name given by invaders. It has nothing to do with Hindus or Muslims.”

He said he suggested the name ‘Gajnagar’ as elephants or “gaj” were in abundance in the region in olden times.

Ghaziabad was earlier a tehsil of Meerut district and declared a separate district on November 14, 1976.

The historical perspective is found in the Uttar Pradesh District Gazetteers, published in 1966, and it states, “In 1739, Nadir Shah of Iran invaded the country and (ran)sacked Delhi, causing disruption and conditions of anarchy in the neighbouring districts including Meerut. In 1740, Ghazi-ud-din (the vizier of Emperor Muhammad Shah) founded the town of Ghaziabad (originally known as Ghaziuddinnagar)...”

“Both in the Mahabharata and in the works of Kalidas, there is mention of huge and dense forests to the north of Hastinapur where elephants lived in large numbers, the town for this reason perhaps getting the name of Gajapura (city of elephants). This place is known by many other names and it is probably not a mere coincidence that they are mostly synonyms of the word meaning elephant. Wild elephants were to be found in these forests till about the middle of the nineteenth century...” the Gazetteer stated.

The proposal for name change was opposed by Ajay Sharma, councillor from ward 67 of Kamla Nehru Nagar/Sanjay Nagar 1.

“We are living in modern times and must focus on development of civic infrastructure and providing amenities to citizens. Instead, the change of name seems to be an “ego issue” and will cost huge funds and such funds could be used for development of colleges, schools, hospitals etc,” Sharma said.